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I am so very lost, someone please help me, I don't know what to do. I'm 26 and have a poor work history.
I worked for a few months at a PetSmart in 2006 but grew frustrated that employees were not give the 15 minute break promised during the interview, and also the fact that we were made to work 30-40 minutes past our scheduled shift which, for me, meant I didn't get home until almost midnight and yet was expected to show up before 7am the next day. I got 5-6 hours of sleep those nights. As mentioned, I left that job after a few months.
Next, I was able to get a sales associate job at WalMart from mid-2007 to mid-2008 by listing a semi-made up company that went out of business. I said I had worked there for years until it went bankrupt. At first, it was a great job where I could be flexible in how I handled my tasks (stocking, displays, etc) and I got along well with everyone, especially the supervisor for my department and those adjacent, and one of the (now-retired) day shift managers. I got an Employee of the Month award.
Unfortunately, after six months, I made a huge mistake and switched from day shift to overnight shift. There were a LOT of problems on that shift. Half the people were stuck up, snobby, or nasty. One supervisor was constantly violating the privacy policy via gabbing in the break-room about which people were written up and why. He also smuggled in alcohol and was FINALLY fired after coming in drunk and mouthing off at a co-manager. The other supervisor was constantly trying to touch (and other women) even though I told him to please not touch me and backed up whenever he got in my person space. At one point I was standing at my locker when he grabbed me by the upper arm to keep me from moving away! I started getting panic attacks when going into the small confined break-room when it was full of third shift people on their break or for their meetings. I tried mightily to get back to day shift, but despite the supposedly policy that said current employees were always considered first, I never was.
There was eventually two things that tipped me over the edge.
The largest blow was loosing someone close to me. I wasn't able to eat or sleep or concentrate on anything I was supposed to do and wound up staring into space. Obviously, I was not want to share this deepest of fears and pains with any of my bosses when they had proven to be incapable of keeping private things private. After that, I suffered what a doctor diagnosed as "depression and generalized anxiety disorder" (I'm not sure I buy into that, but okay).
Shortly after that, he night shift manager unfairly wrote me up (she seemed to be quite nasty to me after she found out I was an atheist, although I later found she herself was fired for being nasty to everyone and unjustly firing people). She claimed to have not been able to find me for many hours. I pointed out that I watched Electronics so the employee there could take his meal break, then I took my meal break. Afterwards I went back to where I had started to clean up then to the break room for my 15 minute break. While there a fellow from the other side of the store said there was no way they were going to be finished, so I offered to come help since I was finished. This sort of this was perfectly acceptable on day shift. He agreed, and I did so. While there, no less than 5 people saw me working the pallets, a few of them helping. I listed these witnesses and pleaded with the manager to speak to them to confirm I had indeed been working and not "hiding out" as she put it. She completely ignored me and wrote me up anyway. In hindsight, I should not have signed the form until I was able to speak with a co-manager or manager. I also let it slip that I was experiencing a significant loss and anxiety/depression, and of course the next day other people suddenly knew about it that had no right to my private affairs. It was all highly embarrassing. After that, I struggled to even leave the house, I tried to avoid the closed, cramped meetings, and was eventually fired by that same night shift manager. It was the final straw for me; snapped, yelled, and insulted her. I'm quite sure she wrote the very worst of me on that pink slip, but I have never laid eyes on it.
How can I turn all of this around? I want to put my life back together, and start a proper career, but I don't think anyone is willing to give me a chance with such a poor work history. I've just never found my niche. Is it possible to turn this mess into a respectable resume? Should I lie and, like before, say I've been working for a small/home-based business that file for bankruptcy? Or is the whole situation hopeless?
I've never done any extracurricular activities, although my science teachers thought I was absolutely brilliant and my art teachers always gave me extra time on projects because of the effort and time I put into them, way more than other students. Apparently they thought I was talented, but I disagree. When I bothered to put in the extra effort for English, those teachers too thought I was talented. In 12th grade I got kicked out of school because in this school distract, if you miss 10 days straight, you are automatically considered to be "dropping out" although that's not what I wanted at all! As a result I never got my diploma but I've been lying and saying I have. Should I continue to put that on my resume?
I've also never done volunteer work per se, except when forced into it by my old school (class trips to an old folks home). As a result, I don't really have anything of this sort to put on my resume or job application. When asked previously, I made stuff up about cleaning up roadsides with friends. I also have no network connections. In fact, I don't even have any friends any more.
Is there any hope for me? I need a job very, very soon! Trying to build connections and working for free isn't really an option for me right now. I need something that will put food in my belly and let me see a doctor.
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